A Rat's Tale
by jordypordy10
Summary: Doug remembers the terrible day SHE was activated and what he had to do to save himself and his daughter.  Author's Note: This was written about 1 weeek before Portal 2: Lab Rat was announced.


"A bitter unlikable loner, who's passing shall not be mourned." That's how she described my daughter. That terrible computer calling HER the "unlikable loner". She couldn't be farther from the truth. She was- is- the most wonderful girl in the world. I can't believe how much she's changed and grown though… She's not my little girl anymore.

Well, I suppose that's to expected- I mean I haven't seen her in, what is it now? - 20 years or so. Not since that monster was activated and my world came to an abrupt stop.

I remember it vividly, maybe a bit too vividly for my own good. It was the first annual "Bring Your Daughter to Work Day" and they were scheduled to activate GLaDOS for the very first time.

I never understood why they activated her with so many children around. So many lives could've been saved.

Anyway, the day had been going great. Chell, who had only been about 6 at the time, was having a blast. She loved seeing all the experiments. She especially loved to play with the Portal Gun. She instantly understood how it worked- but she was dumbfounded when she made an infinite hallway. It was cute.

GLaDOS was going to be activated at 8:00 PM and Chell REALLY wanted to go. I was a bit reluctant to let her see- it WAS the first time we would activate the super computer after all- but she just kept begging. I eventually said yes- not because I was annoyed (all right, maybe a little), but because I, like any good father, wanted to see her happy. Off we went.

As we traversed Aperture, I was surprised at how many people were going to see the event. Maybe I had just been a bit paranoid. We passed a bunch of people, some of which I recognized- like Chris and Jordan from the Portal Gun Development Team- and others I didn't. Its funny really- I've worked here for well over a decade and I still didn't know everyone, but then again, it's a BIG building.

The entire trip down, Chell was bouncing up and down with excitement. Part of it was that she had gotten her way, but I'm pretty sure the other part was that she was asking me questions about every little thing we passed:

"Daddy, what's that?"

"That's a security camera."

"Oh! What about that?"

"That's a turret assembly line, Chell."

"What's a turret?"

"A type of gun."

"Like the one I was playing with?"

That's pretty much how the walk was like. Being asked countless questions by my daughter as she pulled on my arm, as happy as one could be.

We finally walked down the hallway leading to GLaDOS's chamber. We passed the Red Phone, which no one was at. I had found that odd, but it wasn't my job so it never really concerned me. The Emancipation Grid was turned off- probably for safety concerns involving teeth- and the room was extremely crowded, despite its massive size. It looked like Chell and I were going to be one of the last people in- which in the end turned out to be a good thing. I lifted Chell onto my shoulders so she could get a better look and listened.

There was quick little speech, given by the head of the GLaDOS Development Team, talking about the great success they have made, how we were officially one step ahead of Black Mesa- that got a few cheers, myself included- and how this was going to go down in history as "one of the greatest days in history".

At one point during the speech, Chell kinda kicked me in my shoulder, trying to get my attention. I looked up and saw her pointing ahead and above the heads of everyone in the crowd. "What's THAT?" She had asked in awe. Of course I had no idea what she could see (I'm pretty short), so I had to crane my neck and stand on tiptoes to see. What I saw was a large form hanging from the ceiling with 3 different colored spheres hanging off it. I could barley see a yellow eye, looking downward. It was kind of intimidating; I had never actually seen her before in person.

I was about to answer when a loud noise filled the chamber, and everyone burst into applause. She was alive.

But then almost immediately, something went wrong. A robotic, female voice spoke from the loudspeakers. "Thank you for your cooperation; we will now begin to choose test subjects."

There was stunned silence for a few seconds, then a collective murmur spread around the room. But the only one I heard was the tiny one above my head.

"What's that smell?"

I sniffed and realized there WAS a funny smell wafting through the area- then I heard people start to cough. Then screams of panic.

In one huge wave, everyone in the room turned around and tried to run. I suddenly knew what was going on.

I grabbed Chell from my shoulders and held her to my chest, trying to protect her from the Neurotoxin that was spewing out into the room. Bolting for the door, I was grateful that I was one of the people closest to the door. As I ran, I tried to remember the nearest area with a gas mask. Chell had been squirming in my grip; she finally broke free and took a big breath of air.

"Daddy, what's-"

"Just keep your head in Daddy's chest!" I hadn't meant to yell, but I did. She whimpered and tucked her head back into my chest. Panicked as I was, I couldn't help but rub her back, like I always did when I upset her.

All around me as I ran, all hell was breaking lose. There was yelling and screaming as parents and kids were rushing and trying to get out. Some of the kids- young and old- were crying as they were pulled along by their parents or being carried away.

I turned a corner into a closet and closed the door. Putting down Chell, I ripped my lab coat off and stuffed it into the crack under the door. I sniffed and relaxed only a little bit. There was no odd smell in there. The closet was dark and cramped with a storage rack behind us filled with cleaning supplies.

Cleaning supplies.

I turned around and found two masks like a doctor would wear.

"C'mere Chell," I said quietly putting the mask on her, "We're going to have to keep these on for a while, okay?" My voice was muffled by my own mask.

Chell nodded then asked the question I knew was coming: "What's going on? Why was everyone running and screaming?" For a 6 year old, I was surprised that she knew that something was wrong.

I sighed and allowed her to climb on my lap. She wrapped her arms my neck and leaned back against me legs. I couldn't help but smile at her.

"Well, uh, Chell…" I didn't really know how to explain it to a 6 year old. "Something, uh, bad happened." I swallowed hard. "And we may be in big trouble, which is why we're hiding in here-" Suddenly, I knew a way to make it so that she could understand. "A big, mean person is looking for us so we're hiding. Think of it as hide-and-go-seek."

That seemed to satisfy her. She smiled and said Okay Daddy, and fell asleep on my chest.

How long we stayed in that closet, I don't know. Although I had a watch on, my eyes were to watery to actually see what it said. I don't think much time had passed though before Chell started to cough.

Instantly my attention went back to her. My thoughts had been racing- Oh God no, This can't be happening, I thought this room was safe- before I tried to convince myself maybe it had just been a little random cough. That hope had been dashed instantly; Chell coughed again, this time much more violently. Taking a chance I removed my mask and gave a quick sniff and smelled that funny smell. "Damn it!" I had muttered grabbing my lab coat. I didn't have to wake Chell up, she was already awake.

"What's going on Daddy? Did we win?" She beamed up happily, her voice muffled.

'Win?' What was she talking about? But then I remembered the explanation I had given her. "No not yet, honey." Standing up with Chell in my arms, I quickly wracked my mind: What now?

Chell coughed again.

I opened the door and immediately felt like I was going to vomit. There was no less than 4 bodies laying around in the hallway. One of them looked like a kid. Thank God I was holding Chell to my chest; she couldn't see.

"Chell," I managed to croak, "Please close your eyes and keep them closed until I say so, okay?"

I heard a muffled, "Okay Daddy," then started to run through the facility. Every corner I made, I found more bodies. I couldn't help but wonder: Were we the only one's left?

The Neurotoxin didn't seem as strong as it was before; GLaDOS had stopped spewing out into the Enrichment Center. But, that didn't mean it was gone- it was still lingering in the air. I could smell it. It was then I started to cough too.

I ran into the heart of the Center without even realizing it, passing more and more bodies- a sickening number of them were children, some as old as Chell. About halfway there, GLaDOS spoke to everyone who survived- which at the time I was pretty sure was only us. She told us "Congratulations to anyone who is still alive. You have shown to be perfect subjects for the testing." I didn't know what the testing was when she said that, I sure as hell didn't want to find out.

I found myself in a room full of stasis pods- including one that we had just finished developing that had the full suspended animation affect, but allowed the person in it to age and grow. I kept glancing back and forth between the pod and Chell, who had fallen back asleep. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I knew what I had to do.

I walked over to the pod with a heavy heart, thinking that even if I did find the gas masks, they would be too big and too heavy for Chell to wear.

I punched in my ID number into the pods computer control system and the pod opened to reveal the cushiony inside. My heart had felt like it weighed 10 tons as I put Chell into it. I took off the mask she was wearing and removed my own mask and gave her a kiss on the forehead as I said my goodbye. I tapped in my code again and the pod closed, closing my daughter away from me for I didn't know how long. All I knew was that I wouldn't see her for a painfully long amount of time.

I cried as I left her.

*******

I don't remember how exactly, but somehow, I ended up being a test subject a few years later. I wasn't the first, as I had heard the screams of my co-workers for years, but I seemed so alone. I had completely forgotten about Chell as I had tried to find a way out. Well that never happened.

Before I knew it, I was on Test Chamber 17. I met the Companion Cube. Without even realizing, I grew attached to it in a way that is impossible to describe.

Everything was perfect until I reached the end and learned what I had to do to continue. In that one moment I remembered everything that had happened and I couldn't do it again. I couldn't let "her" go again.

I took it to the main room and used my access card to pull out a section of the wall to bring me into a maintenance area, and made it my little home for I don't know how long. I started to write on the walls like I had done in the previous Chamber. I used a crayon that only then did I know belonged to Chell. It was Crayola and it was red- one of Chell's favorite colors.

Before long, I had covered a large area on the walls. I even wrote the founders login just out of impulse. I was going to write my login, drattman, but I didn't.

As I sat there with the Companion Cube I called Chell, I understood why I had the urge to write "The cake is a lie" on the previous Chamber's wall.

I was writing a warning for when Chell came through the Enrichment Center.

After a while I was forced to incinerate "Chell", but after that I never did forget. From then on, I was no longer just a stupid test subject doing an obstacle course of death. I was no longer a meaningless life form on this terrible planet.

I was a father and I was fighting for my daughter, Chell Rattman's, survival.


End file.
